A Friendly Reminder That Not Everybody Is A Techie

Technology is now a bigger part of everyday life than ever before. Whether we’re working remotely, studying online, managing our finances, shopping or staying connected with friends and family, most of us rely on technology every single day. However, using technology regularly doesn’t automatically make someone a tech expert. While many people are comfortable with the basics, it’s often the smaller technical issues and unfamiliar settings that cause frustration. When there’s no IT team on hand to help, even simple problems can quickly become overwhelming.

The truth, however, is that using a laptop every day doesn’t make you a tech-minded individual. Sure, we all know where the on/off button is, and how to surf the web. Yet, we still face insurmountable obstacles that slow down our day-to-day progress. When there’s no IT team on call, it’s hard to fix issues that can interfere with your work. Admittedly, it would be unfair to expect every home-based employee to have programming and IT admin skills. But it’s time to address the tech taboo and make remote work more manageable for all. 

One of the biggest mistakes businesses make is assuming that everyone is comfortable learning new software. In reality, people are far more likely to embrace technology when it feels intuitive and easy to use rather than overwhelming and complicated. Tools that bring writing, organisation and creative tasks together in one place can make digital work far less intimidating for people who don’t consider themselves particularly technical.

Show me how to do things

It’s in every living creature’s nature to learn by mimicking someone else’s gestures. Children copy their parents to develop their skills. As such, learning how to make the most of your laptop or how to set it up for work would be more manageable if all you had to do was to follow somebody’s directions. Reading instruction manuals can be a great starting point. But, let’s be honest, how many of us enjoy reading a manual? We must prefer to be shown something than to figure it out from a long paragraph. That’s precisely where video content plays a huge role. While videos are often used for marketing purposes, they can also be an effective way to help employees, customers and users understand complex processes and technical settings. A video animation can provide set-by-step instructions to secure your laptop or use a VPN connection. 

Introduce best practice technology tips

Video calls have become a normal part of both professional and personal life. While platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet make communication easier, they can become frustrating if users struggle with settings, equipment or basic setup. Bad lighting, poor image quality, and muffled sounds can ruin your meeting. What’s stopping companies from preparing best practice tips and camera recommendations for their teams? It could be harmful to the business to assume that people know how to make the most of their camera and microphone settings. 

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Tackle essential connectivity issues

Help, I can’t connect to the wi-fi!

Why doesn’t my laptop see my headset? 

My BlueTooth isn’t working. 

It’s in the interest of every business to create a direct IT troubleshooting service for home office survival. Simple tasks such as resolving BlueTooth connectivity issues would typically involve the IT team. Connectivity problems remain one of the most common technical challenges people encounter. It’s worth contracting an IT expert to answer support calls and keep your team connected. 

Working from home doesn’t make you a tech specialist. When technology fails you, you need to find help to tackle the issues as quickly and effectively as possible. Businesses can’t expect their team to acquire new tech skills to make their home office setup work. It’s an unfair demand and one that could put the business at risk. Therefore, it’s in their interest to provide support, tutorials, and best practice recommendations.